Compassion
by BleachBox Romance
Summary: Ichigo and Renji are fighting in Soul Society, until a twist of fate changes the course of the battle.


-1"You don't have a one in a million chance of beating me." Renji snarled, a grin of superiority plastered on his face. He gripped his Zanpaktou, Zabimaru, and advanced towards his wounded adversary, Ichigo Kurosaki. Ichigo was kneeling in a puddle of his own blood, coughing and breathing hard, trying to find the strength to stand up and win the loosing fight.

As Renji approached, he began laughing at Ichigo. He stopped two feet in front of him, and gloated, "Guess you won't be able to save Rukia after all, Kurosaki." Renji's mocking grin grew wider as he raised his sword over his head. "Good bye, Ichigo Kurosaki!" He brought down Zabimaru hard, only for it to be stopped short.

"Wha-" Renji was interrupted by a sick, mocking voice.

"What's the matter, Renji?" Ichigo lifted his head and stared straight into Renji's eyes. His eyes were wild and malevolent, the same look he had near the end of their fight in the real world.

"What the hell are you?" Renji stepped back from his enemy.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ichigo stood and flashed a sick, cocky grin at his opponent. "I thought you were gonna kill me. Does my spirit energy scare ya?"

"Shut up! I'll kill you where you stand!" Renji raised his sword and swung it forward. "HOWL, ZABIMARU!" His normal sized katana changed into a saw blade style sword, and shot forward with lightning speed towards Ichigo. The ground shook as Zabimaru made contact with the solid ground, sending dust into all directions.

"That finished him." Renji gave a quick sigh of relief.

"Guess again, fool!" Ichigo appeared behind Renji and took a lightning fast swing with his sword. The blade, which was currently in shikai form, sliced through Renji's shoulder. The searing, fire-like pain quickly spread throughout his whole body, causing him to hiss in pain.

"Son of a-"

"Too slow!" Ichigo's Zanpaktou, Zangetsu, sliced through the air in a downward stroke. The sword his the ground, narrowly missing Renji's foot, and sent another huge cloud of dust into the air, blurring their visions.

"Where the hell is he?" Renji looked around the battlefield, squinting into the brownish haze.

"Where's who?" Zangetsu's blade sliced into Renji's side, sending blood spraying into all directions.

Ichigo irrupted into a wild fit of ridiculing laughter. "Ya know, Abarai, I really thought that this was gonna be more of a challenge. Look's to me like your nothing but a deadweight wannabe."

"Shut the hell up, you trash! I ain't through with you yet!" Renji attempted to pick up his sword, but it seemed ten times as heavier then it normally would be.

"Look at ya. Your pathetic." Ichigo walked over to Renji, who was kneeling in a puddle of blood, and kneeled down in front of him. "You couldn't even swallow your pride an' help with rescuing Rukia."

"Don't you dare talk about Rukia." Renji snarled before coughing up blood and vomit.

"I don't think your in any kind of position to be making demands, so shut it an' listen." Ichigo sheathed his sword. "Rukia was your friend, right? You all lived in that crappy 78th district, didn't you?"

"If my info serves me right, you ran with a group of kids, fighting to live. You had no home, no parents, no one who gave a good damn about you. Stole food so you could live. But you and Rukia were different. You shown signs of spiritual power. You both wanted to be Soul Reapers, go to the academy and make it to the top. In the course of ten years, all your friends died. It was just you and Rukia, the last ones left. You went to the academy. You were one of the best, the cream of the elite, or so Rukia told me."

"You went ahead in your training, and you and Rukia were drifting apart every day. Then Byakuya adopted her into the Kuchiki clan, and you didn't raise a finger against it."

"What do you mean? You wanted me not to do anything about it? She had the crappiest life anyone could imagine! What kind of friend would I be if I denied her a better life, one with a family!?" Renji shouted into Ichigo's face.

"You are very slow, Renji, you know that? It's so obvious! She loves you!"

Those words hit Renji hard. Somehow, he knew it all along. Rukia loved him, and he loved Rukia, and he never did anything that agnolaged it. "What does that have to do with Byakuya adopting her?"

"Hear me out, Renji. Her adoption would separate the both of you. You didn't say anything against it. If she loves you, how would that make her feel, being separated from you?"

"I don't know." Renji turned his head, not wanting to look truth right in the face. His eyes were beginning to water, and he was on the verge of crying.

"Don't play dumb." Ichigo warned. "Just swallow your pride and help save her. Can you grasp the fact that she is going to be killed? When they gave the order for her to be executed, did you think that they were joking?"

"I don't know, alright?! Why the hell are you lecturing me, anyways? You can't just kill me and leave me in peace?"

"If I killed you, how do you think that would effect Rukia? She'd be rescued, but a part of her would be gone. I know very well how it feels to lose someone close to me. I know how much it hurts and how much you change to lose someone you love. Would you really want to put Rukia through all of that?" Ichigo's eyes were cold and hard. "You can fight and die, saying that you followed orders like a good soldier. Or you can go out on a limb and save Rukia, like I know you want to."

"I _will _save Rukia, you can count on that. If not for yourself, then do this for Rukia. Help."

"Alright."

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**Whew! That ended up way different then I had planned. It was originally going to be a tragedy in which Ichigo's hollow come out during the fight with Renji and ends up killing him. I don't even know how I got all of this, but I like it.** **I was listening to the song "What It's Like" by Everlast while writing. That's probably why I wrote so much about Renji's history. If ya read this again, listen to that song while doing it. It gives the story more meaning, or it did with me, anyways. :) Please review. Merry Christmas, peeps!**

**BANKAI!**


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